


The Avatar's Choice

by unacaritafeliz



Category: Avatar: The Last Airbender
Genre: Aang says it too, Aged-Up Character(s), Also there's a lot of me loving suki because I almost excluded her, Engagement, Gen, M/M, Rated T for Toph says Fuck, Siblings, Wedding Planning
Language: English
Status: Completed
Published: 2020-08-04
Updated: 2020-08-04
Packaged: 2021-03-06 05:33:24
Rating: Teen And Up Audiences
Warnings: No Archive Warnings Apply
Chapters: 1
Words: 2,673
Publisher: archiveofourown.org
Story URL: https://archiveofourown.org/works/25708234
Author URL: https://archiveofourown.org/users/unacaritafeliz/pseuds/unacaritafeliz
Summary: Aang glares at Katara. He is not 'freaking out’ or ‘panicking’ - he is very calmly and carefully considering a very important problem he may have to face. Katara just refuses to empathise with him because Sokka's her brother and she's so ride or die for him that it's not even funny. She could never understand what it's like to love Zuko and Sokka both in equal measure, to always want what's best for them, to never want to cause them even the smallest bit of pain.[Sokka and Zuko are getting married and Aang has to make his toughest decision yet - whose best man is he going to be?]
Relationships: Aang & Sokka (Avatar), Aang & Suki (Avatar), Aang & Toph Beifong & Katara & Sokka & Suki & Zuko, Aang & Zuko (Avatar), Aang/Katara (Avatar), Katara & Sokka (Avatar), Sokka/Zuko (Avatar), Toph Beifong & Zuko, the gaang - Relationship
Comments: 26
Kudos: 461





	The Avatar's Choice

**Author's Note:**

  * For [hopepunk](https://archiveofourown.org/users/hopepunk/gifts).



> This takes place 12 years after the series, so Aang and Toph are 24, Katara is 26, Sokka is 27, and Suki and Zuko are 28

"Alright, what's up with Twinkletoes?" Toph asks, without preamble, the second Appa is back in the air.

Aang and Katara have just picked her up on their way to the Fire Nation for Zuko and Sokka's, very last minute though not entirely unexpected, engagement party. Sokka and Zuko only announced their engagement last week, yet the party is in two days and their wedding will happen in just over three months’ time and it's causing Aang a little... _tension_. But Aang is definitely hiding his concerns very well, so he's not exactly sure what Toph is referring to.

"Nothing's up!" Aang replies, in a completely calm and measured voice that definitely reflects his calm state of mind. "Why would something be up? There's nothing up, Toph, unless you count Appa and you shouldn't count Appa because he's a sky bison. He's always up."

Toph raises an eyebrow at him and Aang spares a moment to wonder who taught her to do that. He thinks it was probably Suki, who always takes great pleasure in teaching Toph all kinds of new gremlin-like behaviours.

"Aang's freaking out because he thinks Sokka and Zuko are both going to ask him to be their best man," says Katara, because she's mean, and a traitor, and also the worst girlfriend on the entire planet. "And he’s panicking over which one to accept."

Aang glares at her. He is not 'freaking out’ or ‘panicking’ - he is very calmly and carefully considering a very important problem he may have to face. Katara just refuses to empathise with him because Sokka's her brother and she's so ride or die for him that it's not even funny. She could never understand what it's like to love Zuko and Sokka both in equal measure, to always want what's best for them, to never want to cause them even the smallest bit of pain.

"What even makes you think they'd both ask you?" Toph asks, casually leaning back against her bag with her arms folded behind her head. "Surely those two dunderheads have already planned their wedding party together."

"They have no other male friends, Toph!" Aang exclaims. "Who else are they gonna ask? Fucking _Haru_?"

Toph snorts. "Okay,” she says. “Fair point,"

"I'm going to ruin their wedding!" Aang says, running his hands over his bald head in frustration. Katara giggles because, once again, she's the worst girlfriend on the entire planet. "I'm going to have to choose between them and then whoever I don't pick is going to be so sad and then they’ll fight about it and call the wedding off and everything will be ruined all because of me.”

"Or, whoever you don't pick is just going to ask someone else," Katara says, slowly, as if she’s talking to a child and not to the person that, y’know, saved the world from a terrible and destructive Fire Lord. "Sokka and Zuko are, like, disgustingly in love, Aang. There's nothing anyone could do that’d stop them from getting married."

"That's true," says Toph. "But, also, there's a pretty obvious right choice here, Twinkletoes."

"You should pick Sokka," Katara says, at the exact same moment Toph decides to say, "you should pick Zuko."

The tension that settles over the group is so _palpable_ that Aang considers jumping off of Appa. Which, honestly, wouldn't be that bad since he can airbend and wouldn’t go falling to the ground, but he'd probably consider jumping off of Appa even if he _couldn't_ airbend and _would_ go falling to the ground, just to avoid whatever the fuck is going to happen next.

"What," says Katara, voice as dark and threatening as Aang has ever heard it. "Did you just say?"

Toph shrugs, a chaotic smile on her face. "Aang should pick Zuko," She says. "Dude has, like, no social skills. Aang was basically his first friend."

"So, _what_?" Katara asks, fury rolling off her body so strongly Aang can almost see it. She gets up on her knees, inching closer to Toph even though Toph can't see her and it literally doesn't matter how close they are. "My _brother_ should suffer just because Zuko's _awkward_? If anything Aang should choose Sokka! He's never tried to kill Aang."

Aang frowns, and opens his mouth to remind Katara that they forgave Zuko for hunting the avatar in search of his honour twelve years ago and _absolutely do not ever_ hold his past against him, under any circumstances, anymore, but Toph beats him to the punch.

"Oh my _fuck_!" Toph yells, bolting upright with an expression so furious that Aang is glad there's no earth nearby for her to bend at Katara’s head. "You _cannot_ be serious. Katara, we forgave Zuko for that _twelve years ago_."

"Of course we did," says Katara, moving closer again. "I'm just saying, _Sokka_ has been with Aang since the beginning. He deserves to have the Avatar as his best man."

" _Zuko_ deserves it too!" Toph yells, moving right up in Katara's face in what's obviously supposed to be a power move since, again, it makes no difference to Toph how goddamn close they are. "It makes so much more sense for Aang to go with Zuko, especially considering their history! You're just so fucking biased..."

" _Me_?!" Katara yells, somehow moving even closer despite the fact it shouldn't be possible. " _I'm_ biased?! Toph, what about..."

"Okay, enough!" says Aang, separating Katara and Toph with a small blast of air. They land, gently, on opposite sides of Appa’s saddle. "This isn't helping."

"But Aang!" Katara starts.

"No!" says Aang. "I don't want to talk about this anymore. I know you two are just being protective but you don't need to _fight_ each other about this. It's _my_ decision and _I'll_ make it on my own, okay?"

Aang fixes Katara with what he hopes is a firm look, even though he knows that he has absolutely no power over his girlfriend and wouldn't want it any other way. He fixes Toph with a firm stance, hoping she can somehow sense how serious he is despite not being able to feel with her feet while she's on Appa and likely wouldn’t care anyway.

"Okay," Katara says, sitting down with her arms and legs folded aggressively.

"Fine," Toph relents, lying back down in her previous relaxed position.

" _Thank you,_ " Aang says, finally able to breathe calmly again.

There's silence for a moment, and then another, and _fuck_ , this tense silence is almost worse than having the girls screaming at each other. Aang should break the tension, maybe show off an airbending trick? But Katara’s seen them all before and Toph can’t see them at all so that wouldn’t...

"So Toph," says Katara, kindly, because she's not, despite previous accusations, actually the worst girlfriend on the planet. "How are things going at your earthbending academy?"

"Oh my _fuck_ ," says Toph. "These new kids are the dumbest group of earthbenders I've ever fucking met. This one kid, Wuxian, could not see with his feet if his life depended on it. Just yesterday..."

Aang closes his eyes, letting Toph's rant wash over him as he tries to quiet his mind. He knows that he can work out the right decision if he stays calm and thinks logically about what he should do. They're still a day's journey from the Fire Nation. He has time. He'll work it out before they get there.

* * *

Aang does not work it out before they get there.

When they finally meet up with Zuko and Sokka, and Suki, the head of palace security and an integral part of their gang, just in time for an intimate dinner before everyone else arrives tomorrow, Aang still has no idea which of the boys he's going to choose.

"Sokka!" Katara yells, running the length of the corridor to jump into her brother’s arms.

The water tribe siblings always greet each other as if it's been months since they've last seen each other. To be fair it actually _has_ been months since they last saw each other, but Aang once saw Sokka and Katara tearfully fall into each other's arms after being apart for a single day. Granted that day was the day of Sozin's comet but still. The point is that the siblings are no strangers to overly dramatic reunions.

"Katara!" Sokka exclaims, hugging his sister tightly. "Aang! Toph! It's good to see you guys."

Aang hangs back, hugging his good friend Suki as Katara and Toph take their time greeting Sokka and Zuko. When they're done, Aang steps forward to hug both boys at the same time, carefully wrapping an arm around each of them equally, not letting himself lean further into either Sokka's highly muscular chest or Zuko's incredibly warm one.

"Come on," says Zuko, pushing a door open next to them. "We're eating in here."

It's one of the Palace's smallest rooms, just big enough for a small round table and six comfortable looking cushions. They all sit cross-legged on the floor around the table, not close enough for their elbows to brush, but close enough that they can all easily reach out to their neighbours, or leap to the defense of the Fire Lord and his new fiancé in the, not probable but still far too likely, event of an assassination attempt.

"Okay," says Sokka, smiling at the group with a familiarly mischievous glint in his eye. "Before we eat, Zuko and I have some _very important_ wedding related questions to ask you all."

Aang gulps, and Katara slips her hand into his, warm and comforting. He hadn't expected this conversation to come up so soon, but it's okay, he can deal with it. He'll know what to say when he's asked, the right answer will just _come_ to him _naturally_ and everything will be _fine_ and _okay_ and Zuko and Sokka will definitely _not_ break up and be _sad_ and _alone forever_ because of him. It'll be _fine_.

He takes a deep breath and focuses his attention on the couple, hand squeezing Katara's firmly under the table.

"Will you be my best man..." Sokka says, and Aang can’t even breathe anymore. "Katara?"

There's silence in the room. Aang's eyes flick between Sokka and Katara and Katara's eyes flick between Sokka and Aang and Toph's eyes don't flick between anyone's but Aang can still feel the absolute shit eating grin on her face despite not even looking at her andhe can't even focus on that because _Katara_?

"I..." says Katara, obviously as shocked as Aang is. "What? I... I'm not a man, Sokka!"

"Well, I think we're past the need for typical gender roles in this wedding," says Sokka, gesturing vaguely between himself and Zuko which, okay, fair, maybe Aang should have thought of that. "And, well, _you're_ my best friend. You've been on my side through everything, even if I was being a jerk or a dumbass or a jerk and a dumbass, and I just… I want... _Fuck_ , Katara, can’t you just say yes?"

"Oh, Sokka, _yes_!" says Katara, letting go of Aang's hand so she can throw her arms around her brother. "Of course! I'd really love to be your best man, thank you for asking me."

Aang smiles as the siblings embrace, both a little teary eyed. It's kind of sweet, really, and he supposes it does make a lot sense. He's known Sokka and Katara for thirteen years now, and they've always had such a strong and protective friendship, both prioritising the other over everything else in the world. And besides, this way Aang can accept being Zuko's best man without having to worry about breaking up the _second_ cutest couple in the world.

"Okay, guess it's my turn," says Zuko, rubbing the back of his neck a little nervously, and Aang sits a little straighter, ready with his response. "Uh, Toph?"

_Aang.exe stops working._

Vaguely he's aware of Zuko and Toph talking, of Katara's hand slipping back into his own, but Aang can only really process the continuous chorus of ' _what the fuck_?' that runs through his mind as his brain reboots. He had been so self-absorbed and fucking worried about both Sokka and Zuko asking him to be their best man and, in the end, they had both asked someone else? He supposes it makes sense, once you take the 'man' out of best man, considering that Zuko's basically adopted Toph as his third sister, and Katara is actually Sokka's sister, but Aang really hadn't expected this at all. He had spent the last week inflating his own worth and worrying about a problem that _literally did not exist, what the fuck?_

"Uh, Aang?" Sokka calls, finally bringing Aang’s brain back online. "You okay there, bud?"

"He's just..." Toph starts, a dangerous, and quite frankly evil, grin on her face. Aang stomps his foot into the ground, sending a vibration towards her warning her to shut the fuck up. Toph giggles, but stops talking, which is pretty nice of her actually. Aang's threats mean nothing when Toph can, and has, definitively kick his ass in a fight any time.

"I'm fine," says Aang, smiling at Sokka. "Did you say something?"

"We'd like you to officiate the wedding, Aang," Sokka says. "It'd really mean a lot to the both of us."

Aang beams. He gets asked to officiate weddings all the time, being Avatar and all, but he's never got to officiate the wedding of two people he loves as much as Zuko and Sokka before. It's perfect, and so much better than being asked to be someone's best man and only being able to stand on one side of the wedding. This way he gets to stand with both of them, and actually help them cement their love for each other and move into the next stage of their lives together.

 _Fuck_. Aang wants to _cry_.

"Of course!" Aang exclaims, airbending himself over the table to hug Sokka and Zuko both. "I'd love to!"

"Great!" says Zuko, laughing as he returns Aang’s hug. Aang airbends back to his place at the table and Zuko’s attention shifts to Suki. "And Suki..."

"I wanna be a flower girl," says Suki, with a completely deadpan expression, as she stares Zuko down. It's times like these that Aang is reminded that their sweet, lovable friend Suki is also the leader of a badass, and _incredibly lethal_ , group of highly trained Warriors.

"Well, actually," says Zuko, with a panicked glance at his fiancé. "Sokka and I, we were thinking..."

"I wanna be a flower girl," Suki repeats. Her expression does not change. Aang’s pretty sure she’s not even blinking.

"Kiyi is going to..." Zuko starts, evidently frazzled, as Sokka hides his grin into his hand.

"I want… to be... a flower... girl," Suki repeats. She leans forward so she can stare Zuko down even more intensely and Aang is desperately relieved he’s not Zuko right now.

"Fine, you can be a flower girl," Zuko relents. Suki punches the air with both fists, her deadpan expression immediately cast away in favour of a bright and happy smile. Suki is, without a doubt, the most _terrifying_ person Aang knows, Toph included. "But you have to help us choose music for the reception too."

"Deal!" says Suki, doing a happy little jig in place at the table.

"Alright!" says Sokka. "Now that all that sappy stuff is out of the way, let's eat!"

The doors to the room open immediately, and several waiters walk into the room, carrying trays of delicious looking food. There's way too much meat of course, this is Zuko and Sokka’ staff after all, but several delicious looking vegetarian options are placed directly in front of Aang. While everyone else is distracted serving food and roasting the hell out of each other, Aang feels Katara's hand slip into his. When he looks up at her, she subtly raises an eyebrow at him, wordlessly asking if he's okay with everything that just happened.

His answering smile is genuine. Aang's never felt better.

**Author's Note:**

> I read [this post by gayavatarstyle](https://gayavatarstyle.tumblr.com/post/624113500317466624) and went 'Katara should be best man' because I am also a little sister who should be best man at my brothers wedding? So then I wrote a bullet point fic about it in my notes at like 12am and thought it was hilarious. And then I decided it wouldn't be as funny if I made it a real fic and then I #challengeaccepted myself I wrote this.
> 
> It is not as funny as the bullet point fic. I hope you enjoyed it anyway.


End file.
